tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post393639192968323772..comments2024-03-28T00:41:13.514-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Follow-Up to Stages of ExplorationJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-49565092647527288332012-08-06T07:39:21.905-07:002012-08-06T07:39:21.905-07:00"the last thing I want to do is create secret..."the last thing I want to do is create secret (xp) rewards."<br /><br />Why not? Of course, it would fix your problems in one easy swoop. I play the D&D Cyclopedia and there are rewards built right into the game, with these rules, for rewards for good roleplaying, performing tasks very well, achieving goals and doing things like saving party member's lives can earn you experience. Built right into the rules of D&D.<br /><br />So here's what to do: stop using so many monsters because you are fed up them, switch to the Cyclopedia and start awarding XP for something other than gold and monsters. You could easily tie your ideas into the goal rewards that are built into the very game system that you think is 'broken' and 'badly designed'. It's what I would do ;-)Pete Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03438651595079082035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-38873310233077842252012-08-05T08:46:04.105-07:002012-08-05T08:46:04.105-07:00This prompted a blog post too that you might be in...This prompted a blog post too that you might be interested in:<br /><br /><a href="http://untimately.blogspot.com/2012/08/d-phase-shifts.html" rel="nofollow">http://untimately.blogspot.com/2012/08/d-phase-shifts.html</a>Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-79202115230439867252012-08-01T13:23:30.250-07:002012-08-01T13:23:30.250-07:00@ Fey:
Even though it might be within my 'rig...@ Fey:<br /><br />Even though it might be within my 'rights' (and I'm not so sure about that...depends on your philosophy of GMing), the last thing I want to do is create "secret (xp) rewards." For me, that smacks just a bit too much of arbitrariness and GM fiat.<br /><br />Now, as my B/X players will tell you, I am the very soul of honor and fairness as a DM and I, of course, can be trusted to not do anything underhanded, mean, or off-the-cuff cruel. BUT...why give myself the temptation?<br />; )<br /><br />Actually, the real reason is this: I believe that reward mechanics influence player (and thus character behavior)...so I want to be up front with what provides reward to act as INCENTIVE for the PCs. And KNOWING what the risk/reward is allows them to choose (to their own level of risk assessment) how they want to proceed.<br /><br />As far as how XP to assign for various tasks: I think the answer CAN be simple...as simple as doing X nets you 100xp, doing Y nets you 1000xp etc...you just have to make some judgments about what you want those things to be. And I'm working on that right now. Though, no, I don't think I'm going to go by mileage.<br /><br />@ Brendan: Just another example that I'm a hack designer without an original bone in his body! O the Shame!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-10499346184213789842012-08-01T04:40:34.398-07:002012-08-01T04:40:34.398-07:00One way to encourage wilderness exploration is to ...One way to encourage wilderness exploration is to create hidden or hazardous areas and award some XP just for having visited them. It's perfectly within your rights as a DM. <br /><br />Finding some hidden caves under a waterfall might be worth a few XP. Successfully navigating some rapids might be worth more. Walking up the path on the side of the river, probably not worth so many. <br /><br />In order to faithfully reward exploration, you need to duplicate the HAZARDS of exploration. Some of those might be sea monsters, and hostile tribes of pygmies. They also might be storms, rapids, crossing treacherous canyons, quicksand, falling rocks, and avalanches. Attaching some XP value for encountering these things and successfully negotiating these obstacles is perfectly within reason.<br /><br />You could also do it for other things. Negotiating with a trader who speeks another language, or building a canoe. <br /><br />The only lacking D&D has is effective guildines for how much these kinds of tasks are worth. What HD monster is negotiating some rapids equivalent to? I'm not sure there's a simple answer to that.Air Dominance Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05226097944494976185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-41457423139518218672012-07-31T15:22:15.266-07:002012-07-31T15:22:15.266-07:00You might want to look at Rolemaster 1st edition. ...You might want to look at Rolemaster 1st edition. It gave out XP for things like exploration and travel, with a multiplier (ranging from x5 to x1/10 IIRC) for frequency. So you'd get a lot of experience for going somewhere the first time, and it would go down precipitously when you repeated the trip. There is more to it, but Campaign Law is worth the read just for the experience section ideas if you're going down this path.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-27364977787878855622012-07-31T11:15:40.472-07:002012-07-31T11:15:40.472-07:00The Wii game Xenoblade gives the player experience...The Wii game <i>Xenoblade</i> gives the player experience points for exploring and discovering new areas, alongside the usual rewards for quests and killing monsters; in fact, the game's quite stingy with kill points and as such you're encourage to interact with NPCs and go wandering off to explore the land if you want your party to improve.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-31605100333271378472012-07-31T11:04:08.548-07:002012-07-31T11:04:08.548-07:00I love this, and XP per hex explored and location ...I love this, and XP per hex explored and location discovered is nice, elegant, and impartial.<br /><br />See also:<br /><br /><a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/2009/12/exploration.html" rel="nofollow">http://jrients.blogspot.com/2009/12/exploration.html</a><br /><br />For stage 3, you can add pacify and/or conquer a hex as a reward too.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-19919039858637515342012-07-31T10:24:29.870-07:002012-07-31T10:24:29.870-07:00You might want to have a look at the Birthright ma...You might want to have a look at the Birthright material for guidelines on how to handle XPs in an atypical AD&D campaign. It integrates the XP guidelines in the 2e DMG very well; I have been using both for more than 15 years, and they address most (if not all) of the points you have raised.Antoniohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17258180992723371727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-36921858815224999212012-07-31T07:16:58.441-07:002012-07-31T07:16:58.441-07:00i think you are on the right track.i think you are on the right track.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com